On Sunday
Philippines in peace deal with Muslim rebels
President Benigno Aquino says the "framework agreement" between government and MILF separatists will be signed shortly.
Last Modified: 07 Oct 2012 06:12
The Philippine government and Muslim rebels have agreed to a preliminary peace deal for the country's troubled south, President Benigno Aquino has announced, signalling an end to a 40-year conflict that has killed more than 100,000 people and crippled the region's economy.
The deal with the Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF), announced on Sunday, sets in train a roadmap to create a new autonomous region in the Muslim-majority areas in the south of the mainly Catholic country before the end of Aquino's term in 2016.
Aquino described the deal in a nationally televised announcement as a "framework agreement". It follows marathon negotiations between the government and the MILF in Malaysia, which is brokering the talks.
The agreement is expected to be signed in a few days in the capital, Manila, officials said. It spells out the general principles on major issues, including the extent of power, revenues and territory of the Muslim region.
If all goes well, a final peace deal can be reached by 2016, when Aquino's six-year term ends, according to the officials.
The forgotten girls: By 2020, there will be 50m child brides under the age of 15
This week's international 'Day of the Girl' offers governments, the UN, and charities an opportunity to address a shocking - and growing - trend
SARAH MORRISON SUNDAY 07 OCTOBER 2012
When 12-year-old Nargis was woken up, one morning in Bangladesh, by two women she did not know, she was confused. She did not understand when they told her she would be marrying their brother in just a few weeks, or that she would be leaving her parents' home. When she became a mother two years later, losing her son after only 16 days, the pangs of fear were familiar. Now, with a frail child to bring up, she is much more resolute: "I don't think girls should marry before they're 18 years old."
Today, days before the first internationally recognised Day of the Girl, experts warn that child marriage is, without exception, the biggest challenge to girls' development. The number of girls married before the age of 15 is expected to double over the next decade, the United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA) has warned. By 2020, there will be around 50 million wives under the age of 15. This will pass 100 million by 2030, if current trends continue.
An election in Bosnia shadowed by the past
Elections in Srebrenica are about more than just paving roads and establishing local authorities. The 1995 massacre of 8000 Muslim men and boys there offers a key backdrop to elections up to the present.
Arguments have raged in Bosnia ahead of local elections, set to take place Sunday (07.10.2012). Parties are taking the opportunity to raise their profile and to present their overall political views. Local politicians and their issues have therefore been shunted to the side at campaign events. Particular attention is being paid to the town of Srebrenica.
The name of the small town in eastern Bosnia, near the border with Serbia, has earned worldwide notoriety. In July 1995, over 8,000 Muslim boys and men were killed there during the war in Bosnia-Herzegovina by Bosnian Serb forces under the command of General Ratko Mladic. It was the worst massacre in Europe since the Second World War. International courts classified the attacks as genocide. Since then, Srebrenica has stood as a symbol of the atrocities in the Bosnian war.
Indonesia's jihad factories: uncovering nurseries of terrorism's next generation
Despite a highly professional anti-terrorism police unit, Indonesia is still home to some dangerous nurseries of radicalism.
October 7, 2012 Michael Bachelard
In March, a group of Islamist radicals were scoping out new targets in Bali, hoping to enact their own murderous 10th anniversary of the 2002 attacks.
They had surveyed the Hard Rock Cafe in downtown Kuta and the Australian-run La Vida Loca bar in Seminyak. They had chosen a suicide bomber and planned to fund the operation by robbing a money changer and a gold store.
What is not widely known is that three of the five plotters for ''Bali III'' - including their leader, Hilman, aka Surya - were low-level drug pushers who were radicalised in Kerobokan prison when they were locked up with the original Bali bombers in the early 2000s.
Congo's M23 rebels aim for Ugandan border town
Congo's new M23 rebel group have opened a new front north of their current stronghold in the country's eastern city of Rutshuru in order to protect the local population, said a rebel spokesman.
Sapa-AP | 06 10月, 2012 15:06
The group of about 1,000 fighters created after several officers from the Congolese army defected in April and May, has been fighting the Congo army south of its base in Rutshuru for two months. It is now spreading its control toward Lake Edward.
The rebels took the small town of Nyamilima on Monday and now say they are planning to attack Ishasha, a trading post on the border with Uganda.
The M23 said that they are attacking to protect the local population from other rebel groups such as the Mai Mai and the FDLR.
Venezuela on edge as election arrives
On the eve of a presidential election expected to be close, Venezuelans are stocking up on household staples, anxious that chaos might ensue if President Hugo Chavez loses.
By Chris Kraul and Mery Mogollon, Los Angeles Times
October 7, 2012
Jesus Ramirez is taking no chances. He and his wife bought several pounds of fish and beef at the Mercal state-run grocery store in Caracas' Trinidad barrio the day before Sunday's presidential voting, just in case postelection chaos descends on the country.
"The supermarkets are cleaned out of candles, batteries, bottled water, even prepaid telephone cards," said Ramirez, a real estate broker who lives in the blue-collar Catia barrio. "We're all stockpiling things in case they become scarce."
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